Fired up to challenge big boys club
Enter SA’S new face of construction
Businesswoman Joy Hlongwane, 34, is reaching for new frontiers, aiming to become the leading woman in the heavy machinery and earth-moving equipment sector.
Having started through plant hire of heavy-duty machinery and earth-moving equipment through her initial company, Kwangwane Consulting, Hlongwane is moving up a notch to shake the surface with her dealership, Kwangwane Plant Solutions (KPS).
Hlongwane, who hails from Delmas in Mpumalanga, sells construction and mining heavy duty equipment at her dealership warehouse in Edenvale, east of Johannesburg.
Having spent many years in construction, she spotted a gap for black empowerment in the supply of heavy duty and earth-moving equipment in mining and construction sectors.
“This is a bold move that will see a black female-run yellow machine dealership go toe-totoe with established monopoly in the fields.
“I have partnered with Dezzi, a heavy duty and earth-moving company, to be a national dealership of their products,” says Hlongwane, adding that her business has a potential to create jobs.
KPS sells tipper trucks, TLBS, graders, rollers, front-end loaders, hydraulic excavators, articulated dump trucks, and articulated loaders, among others.
Motivated by the support that black women receive from the government, the sky’s the limit for Hlongwane, who wants to help other small businesses to flourish. Through her other company, Hlongwane Consulting, she has finished many projects for the government and private sector.
These include, among others, building education and healthcare facilities, office parks and corporate offices.
“I am eager to grow bigger in my businesses while empowering black people, especially women in construction and mining sectors. If you do nothing to succeed, you won’t grow.”